Origin: Isle of slay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Sherry Oloroso
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Kilchoman
Average price: € 90.00
Official website: kilchomandistillery.com
Vote: 87/100
And here we are, at the 2024 edition, the twelfth, of this sherry version of Kilchoman, named after the nearby dark lake, matured entirely in former oloroso sherry casks with nine years of ageing (not declared on the label), bottled at the end of March this year in 18,000 bottles.
Quite sparing than usual in details about the composition of the casks, except for the different sizes used (butts and hogsheads) and for being all first fill, as always from the José y Miguel Martin bodega.
Tasting notes
Fleshy, grilled peat on the nose, with lots of BBQ sauce sprinkled on bacon and ribs, but there is also some seafood, mostly fish, with a nice burst of brine to seal the first impact. Fruit is present but in the background, with candied fruit (orange, pineapple), dried prunes and apricots, ripe mandarin and blackberries, combined with leather, nutmeg, cinnamon and a very slight vegetable inflection. Full-bodied and loaded as expected.
On the palate, the spicy attack is of ginger, paprika and black pepper, with chopped herbs sprinkled over the carnivorous evocations and grilled over an open fire, with wood smoke permeating the flavours. Citrus fruits are more present in the fruity compartment, between candied orange and blood orange juice, with red fruits reinforcing the acidulous part, while sweet liquorice, leather, carob and the coastal and saline part closing the sip.
The finish is quite long and crisp, with spices, citrus, cola, burnt wood, red fruits, liquorice and salt.
A series of which it is almost ‘boring’ to talk about, so constant is the quality, albeit with small variations from year to year that do not, however, undermine the perfect marriage between Kilchoman’s distillate and ex-sherry casks. Everyone will certainly have their own preferences, but at least on the last five vintages I have tried, one never falls short.